VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $247.13 on Friday. VeriSign has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $258.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.32 and a 200 day moving average of $209.68. The firm has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its position in VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.